Foot and leg rest



Aug. 29, 1950 H. A. EVEREST ET AL FOOT AND LEG REST Filed Sept. 18, 1945 Patented Aug. 29, 1950 FOG-'I' AND LEG BEST Herbert A.. Everest and Harry C.. J ennings',`` Los Angeles, Calir Application September 18, 19451, Serial No. 617,022

4 Claims. I

This invention relates to improvements in foot and leg rest constructions for chairs and has been primarily designed for use in conjunction with a collapsible invalid wheel chair.

A primary object of the invention is to provide an improved foot and leg rest for chairs of this character which is adjustable about an axis disposed above-and forwardly of the front edge of the seat and at a location approximately coincident with the center of the knee joints of the user.

Heretofore invalid's wheel chairs have been provided with leg rests which are adjustable with respect to the legs or side frames of the chair, The a-xis of swinging movement of such foot and leg rests has been at or near the front of the seat and sometimes below the front edge of the seat. When such leg rests are adjusted they are adjusted about one axis whereas the legs of the invalid, swing about an aXis through the knee joints that is considerably spaced from the axis of adjustment of the foot and leg rest. Such an arrangement in many instances is extremely uncomfortable to the invalid particularly arthritic patients.

By means of the improved foot and leg rest which is so designed as to be adjustable about anaxis coincident with the axis of swinging movement of the invalid's legs the foot and leg rest maintains substantially the same position with respect to the invald's legs throughout all adj ustments and is consequently much more comfortable.

Another object of the invention is to provide a foot and leg rest having the above mentioned characteristics which has a novel, simple and easy means of freeing the foot and leg rests for adjustments and looking the same in any adj usted position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a collapsible chair having foot and leg rests on which there are foot and leg supporting panels that are pivotally mounted between limitl on their supports to permit of collapse of the chair.

With the foregoing and other obects in View, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended clairns, reference is had` to the accompanying drawings: for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a collapsible wheel chair to= which the improved foot and leg rest embodying the present inventionl has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a partial view in front elevation of the same;

rest.

Fig. 3= is a partia] view in side elevation illustrating` details of construction on an enlarged scale. t

Fig. 4 is a view in front elevation of those porti'ons of the parts illustrated in Fig. 3.

Referring to the; accompanying drawings, wherei-n similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout,` the present invention. is applicable to any type of chair on which it is desired to apply an adjustable foot :and leg As it has been designed primarily for use in conjnncztionwith collapsible invalid's wheel chairs it has been il-lustrated as applied thereto wherein the' wheel chair has a pair of spaced side frames Ill providing front and rear legs H and 12 rollably supported on Wheels 13 and I'4.` These side fralnes have their lower ends pivotally connected to the bottom ends of an X-brace |5 and the upper ends of the X-brace are pivotally connected to leg slides [6 which are vertically slidable on the front and rear legs. Thev seat ll which is of flexible material connects the upper ends of the X-brace and when the chair is expanded or extended this sea-t assumes a level approximately even with the upper ends: of the X-brace.

In accordance with the present invention extensions IB are rigidly fastened to the front legs ll and extend forward-ly therefrom a short distance. These extensions have foot and leg rest supports 19 pivotally secured thereto as at 20; The pivotal connection between the supports: |'9 and the extensions |8 is thus disposed above and forwardly of the front edge of the seat l1 and is arranged to be approximately coincident with the axis of swinging movement of the legs of the patient while seated. on the seat ITI. The leg rest supports IB are preferably angular in form being bent at l9a, as ill-ustrated, and brace rods 24| are pivotally connected to the supports at 22. These brace rods extend' rearwardly adjacent the outer sides of the front legs I l through a type of clamp that is pivotally mounted on a stud 23 on the outer side o-f each of the legs ll. The clamp consists of an. angular member 2'4 that is pivoted on the stud and which carries a sleeve or ferrule 25 through which the brace rod 2| extends.. A cooperating member 26 has an aperture therethrough that is somewhat elongated and this cooperating member is urged rearwardly by a compression spring 21. A cap nut 28 may be positioned on the' rear end of each brace rod tolimit its forward movement.

On'` pressing the: cocperating member Zfi towardthe angular member 2A against the action of the compression spring 21? the brace: rod: is released' and may slide freely through the sleeve or ferrule 25 to permit of adjustment of the support 19. On release of the cooperating member 26 the spring Z'l urges it rearwardly and causes it to bind on the brace rod to lock it in any adjusted position. The exterior surface of the brace rod may be knurled or roughened to assure that the brace rod will be thus adjustably locked even though subject to severe vibration. As the clamp is pivotally mounted on the front leg Il it may swing into any required position occasioned by the adjustment of the support 19.

It will be understood that there is one extension E8, a leg support l9, a brace rod 2|, and a -clamp associated with each of the side frames and with each of the front legs I I thereof on the chair and that these are operable independently of each other, inasmuch as there is no connection between one leg support I!! and the other.

The lower ends of the supports [9 extend forwardly as indicated at 29 and have hingedly mounted thereon such as by strap hinges 30 foot rest panels 3|. These panels may assume a horizontal position as indicated in Fig. 2 or may be swung upwardly to assume positions in the planes of their respective supports |9 or substantially so. In a similar manner leg rest panels 32 are pivotally mounted on the supports |9 such as by strap hinges 33 and may assume positions extending late-rally from the supports 19 or may be swung forwardly to assume positions substantially in the plane of the support on which they are mounted. The upper ends of the leg rest panels terminate adjacent the bends 19a. This swinging movement of each of the panels 3| and 32 enables the chair to be collapsed by moving the side frames towards each other such movement being permitted by the X-brace.

A foot rest construction embodying the present invention will be found to be highly advantageous in that on adjusting either or both of the supports le the foot rest panels 3| and the leg rest panels 32 retain their same relative positions with respect to the patientfs feet and legs by Virtue of the fact that the axis of the pivot 28 is located substantially Icoincident with the axis of swinging movement of the patient's legs. In actual practice the position of the pivot 2B is approximately two inches above and three inches forwardly of the seat for the average patient although the positioning of the pivots may vary with different patients.

The improved foot and leg rest is very comfortable to arthritics who frequently complain about foot and leg rests that are adjustable about an axis near the forward edge of the seat or below the forward edge of the seat.

As the foot and leg rest moves or is movable about an axis coincident with the knee joint of the patient the adjustment of the rest does not involve a shortening of the distance between the foot rest and the knees. The pivot 20 may be regarded as located above the seat approximately one-half the thickness of an average upper leg and the planes of the panels 32 may be regarded as spaced rearwardly of the pivot 20 a distance approximately one-half the thickness of an average lower leg. Consequently, when a patient is seated in the chair with the backs of his lower legs positioned and resting against the panels 32, the axis of pivot at 20 will be approximately coincident with the axis of swinging movement between his lower leg and the upper leg. Therefore, as the leg rest is adjusted relatively to the chair, the support for the feet and lower legs will swing about an axis substantially coincident with the axis of swinging movement of the patient's lower legs relatively to his thighs and adjustment of the foot and leg rest therefore does not bring about any discomfort or involve a shift of the patient on the seat to accommodate himself to the new adjustment. Furthermore, the fine adjustment afforded by the clamp adds much comfort to arthritic patients where such fine adjustments are either necessary or highly desirable.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A leg rest for chairs comprising suspending means providing pivots disposed upwardly and forwardly of the forward edge of the seat of the chair, leg rest supports pivotally suspended therefrom, foot rest means carried by the leg rest supports, and leg rest panel means carried by the leg rest supports, said leglrest panel means being arranged in planes spaced rearwardly of a plane through said pivots and parallel to said leg rest supports, the spacing of the pivots upwardly and forwardly from the forward edge of the seat and the spacing of the leg rest panel means rearwardly of the pivots being such that when the upper legs of a patient are resting on the seat and his lower legs are positioned against the panel means, the pivots will be located approximately coincident with the aXis of swing at the patient's knees, and means for releasably holding the leg rest supports in adjusted positions relative to the suspending means.

2. A leg rest for chairs comprising suspending means providing pivots disposed upwardly and forwardly of the forward edge of the seat of the chair, leg rest supports pivotally suspended therefrom, said leg rest supports being angular in form having upper portions extending downwardly and rearwar-dly from the pivots and lower portions extending downwardly and forwardly therefrom, foot rest means carried by the leg rest supports, and leg rest panel means carried by the leg rest supports on the lower portions thereof, said leg rest panel means being disposed in planes disposed rearwardly of a plane through said pivots and parallel to said leg rest supports, the spacing of the pivots upwardly and forwardly from the forward edge of the seat and the spacing of the leg rest panel means rearwardly of the pivots being such that -when the upper legs of a patient are resting on the seat and the lower legs are positioned against the panel means the pivots will be located approximately coincident With the axis of swing at the patient's knees, and means for releasably holding the leg rest supports in adjusted position relative to the suspending means.

3. A leg rest for chairs comprising suspending means providing pivots disposed upwardly and forwardly of the forward edge of the seat of the chair, leg rest supports pivotally suspended therefrom, foot rest means carried by the leg rest supports, and leg rest panel means carried by the leg rest supports, said leg rest panel means being arranged in planes spaced rearwardly of a plane through said pivots and parallel to said leg rest supports, the spacing of the pivots upwardly and forwardly from the forward edge of the seat and the spacing of the leg rest panel means rearwardly of the pivots being such that whenthe upper legs of a patient are resting on the seat and his lower legs are positioned against the w panel means, the pivots Will be located approximately coincident with the axis of swing at the patient's knees, and means for releasably holding the leg rest supports in adjusted positions relative to the suspending means comprising braces pivotally mounted on the leg rest supports and extending rearwardly therefrom, clamping means pivotally mounted upon the Chair through which the braces slidably extend, said clamping means being arranged to releasably bind upon the braces to hold the braces in adjusted positions.

4. A leg rest for chairs comprisng suspending means providing pivots disposed upwardly and forwardly of the forward edge of the seat of the chair, leg rest supports pivotally suspended therefrom, said leg rest supports being`` angular in form having upper portions extending downwardly and rearwardly from the pivots and lower portions extending downwardly and forwardly therefrom, foot rest means carried by the leg rest supports, and leg rest panel means carried by the leg rest supports on the lower portions thereof, said leg rest panel means being disposed in planes disposed rearwardly of a plane through said pivots and parallel to said leg rest supports, the spacing of the pivots upwardly and forwardly from the forward edge of the seat and the spacing of the leg rest panel means rearwardly of the pivots being such that when the upper legs of a patient are resting on the seat and the lower legs are positioned against the panel means the pivots will be located approximately coincident with the axis of swing at the patient's knees, and means for releasably holding the leg rest supports in adjusted position relative to the suspending means `comprising braces pivotally mounted upon the leg rest supports adjacent the angle thereof, clamps pivotally mounted upon the chairs through which the braces slidably extend, each lclamp consisting of two opposed members through which the brace extends, and spring means therebetween urging said members to separate to cause one of said members to bind upon the brace and releasably hold it in said position.

I-IERBERT A. EVEREST.

HARRY C. JENNINGS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 156,772 Collins Nov. 10, 1874 390,059 Berninghaus Sept. 25, 1888 508,690 Fauber Nov. 14, 1893 903,361 Davis Nov. 10, 1908 1,400,625 Rawlinson Dec. 20, 1921 1,571,509 Conolly Feb. 2, 1926 2,095,411 Everest et al Oct. 12, 1937 2,165,529 Barie July 11, 1939 2305279 Smith Dec. 15, 1942 2,375,151 Troxell May 1, 1945 

